Every Trip Has It's Own Drama!

Earlier this year, we thought we had taken our last trip to Disneyland for a long time. We had free tickets that we got to use and that was that. Since Brett's been in school, it just wasn't in the budget. Well, enter Mark (my fabulous brother) and Kim (my wonderful sister in law). They called us up a few days before Thanksgiving and said, "We're planning a last minute trip to Disneyland the day after Thanksgiving and we want you guys to come with us. It just wouldn't be the same without you." They found a really nice place to stay while we were there and wanted to cover that. All we needed to do was get our Disneyland tickets and get there!



How could we refuse? We talked to the kids about
it and they decided that they wanted Disneyland for Christmas! So, we decided to do it. Our trip there was the most RIDICULOUS trip to California we've ever driven. We stayed the night on Saturday at Kim's grandma's house in Mesquite. We woke up the next morning, ready to go to early church and then were planning on leaving right then. As we walked to our car after the meeting, we noticed our front tire looked a little flat and upon closer examination, noticed a nail in the tire. So, we drove over to Wally-World to fix it up. We drove up, dropped off the car, told the guys in the shop the problem and then proceeded to the waiting room.

One of the mechanics came in and said, "We need your keys." I said, "Oh, the keys are in the car."He said, "Well, the doors are locked."

Silence.

"Uuuuhhhh, are you sure?" I asked. "Did you check the other side?" He had. Sure enough, our keys were locked in our car. Lucky for us, I had just by chance (truly a tender mercy) grabbed my set of keys. So, in my purse, I had a spare set. My purse was still at Kim's grandma's, so my brother had to bring them to us.



Little did we know that this would set us back just enough and we would not see beautiful CA for some time. $100 later our new tire was on and the car was ready to go. We got a quick lunch at Grandma Diane's and headed out. The drive to Vegas was smooth and uneventful. Somehow (in the midst of all our excitement) we forgot about the traffic going home to CA from Vegas every Sunday afternoon. I know. How could we forget? That is the one thing Dad drills into our minds every time we go down there. Anyway, right outside Vegas. The traffic started. It was horrendous. It was worse than we've ever seen. It

took us 3 hours to get from Vegas to the little city of Jean. From Jean to Primm (where that big Roller Coaster ride is) which is only 13 miles, took us 1 HOUR! I am not exaggerating. It was insane! In Primm, there were lines a mile long to fill up on gas and to go to the bathroom. We decided to go ahead, but then I saw a frontage road off to the south of the freeway. I convinced Brett to take it. I should have known, because a lot of my ideas for short cuts end up being 'long cuts.' We drove on that road for about 3 miles and then came to a sign that read, "Road Closed Ahead." It was a sick feeling. So, we had to turn around and get back on

the freeway which was moving at a snail's pace! After Primm, it took us 7 HOURS to get to LA. NOT FUN!!! But, if you ask the kids, they had a blast. We listened to books on CD and watched a whole bunch of movies. Thank goodness for that! After getting to Newport, we were all in heaven. That place is divine. We loved the place we stayed. It was just perfect and right by the ocean. We spent Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Disneyland. The weather was cool, but not too cool for us. Southern Californians went home because they were too cold, but we enjoyed the mid 50's to lower 60* temps while it was in the single digits back home. We enjoyed very short lines and 

getting to do everything we wanted to more than once in those two days. It was our best experience at Disney yet! But, every trip has to include a bad mood by either mom or dad, and this trip happened to be Brett's turn. Even though this picture is hideous of me, I just had to include it because it shows the kind of sour mood Brett was in. I am a free spirit when it comes to amusement parks. I sort of become a kid again, running to and from different lines to see which one is bigger or smaller leaving everyone in a trail behind me....wondering what I'm doing....which may or may not be annoying to other responsible adults. And Brett is the sometimes paranoid, over-protective parent who freaks out about almost everything and by being so concerned, puts a damper on the trip.


Well, this was one of those moments. I was trying to "lighten the mood" while we were riding "Winnie the Pooh" and Brett would have nothing to do with it! We all have those times, don't we?  I just had to document it! I'm so grateful that Brett loves me despite my childish tendencies to be . Well, that day Brett found relief in an early ride home. After a long, exhausting day with Wyatt, Mark and Kim decided to go home early. Brett jumped at the chance to join them and he got to go home with Wyatt to go to bed. We missed him, but I knew he felt better and so we just decided to enjoy the night! Another great thing about Friday was that my brother Tyler and his new wife Ashley got to join us. It was a fabulous time! We stayed at Disneyland until about midnight! The kids were troopers! What a blast!

In between the days we went to Disneyland, we visited our favorite beach in Dana Point. SO RELAXING! The weather was perfect. While we were there, I noticed some fins poking out of the water by a cove we like to play at. That first, split second, I thought they were sharks, but then I realized they were dolphins! Then we saw 3, 4, and 5 fins and some we even think were babies. It was awesome. Mark was our there surfing and was probably 20 feet away from them. It was really cool and really fun! we saw a pod of dolphins swimming in a little cove.

Beautiful California

Brett and I being goofs

Beautiful Sunset!

All the cousins at sunset-- right outside our place

Right outside our window. BEAUTIFUL!!!!


Thanks, Mark and Kim!!!! We had an AWESOME time! You guys are the best!!! 

Be Careful What You Say

This post is by Brett, the father:

I was talking to one of my children the other day who was asking if I would buy him something. I told him that we were on a tight budget and could not afford to buy extra things. He said, "Well, don't you work at the hospital every day?" I said, "Yes, I do but I don't get paid for what I do." It was a benign enough conversation, or so I thought. Today I ran into one of our neighbors at Costco. She said that McKay had come by their house selling his homemade drawings for 10 cents each. She had asked him what he was trying to earn money for and he said, "Well, my dad doesn't get paid at his job anymore." She told me that it was quite the sales pitch and she couldn't help but buy a few of his pictures. I have since set McKay straight and have asked him not to use that particular sales tactic anymore.

Building Schools in Afghanistan

Every year our little family does a  fundraiser around Christmas time. We started this tradition because we wanted our kids to have something else to think about and focus on besides the ME, ME, ME of getting presents! Two years ago we did school kits for less fortunate kids at a school in Provo. The kids absolutely loved that project and got super involved with their classes at school and with our neighborhood. We got to deliver the school packets to the kids in Provo at their school in their classrooms. It was one of the neatest experiences we've had as a family.

 This year we decided to do something that the kids could really get involved in. We collected pennies for an organization called Pennies For Peace. The above picture is a picture of the kids holding all the pennies and money they earned-- including some $1 bills and $5 bills. Honestly, I was surprised that the kids were willing to give ALL they had saved and earned by doing extra jobs here and there. They gave it all. Pennies for Peace is an amazing organization. Anyone out there read the book "Three Cups of Tea"? This organization was founded by the same man who wrote that book. He was climbing K2 in Pakistan and got altitude sickness and had to turn back because he was so sick. His friends all went on with out him.

He stumbled upon a village and those who lived there took care of him and nursed him back to health. Once he was back to not being delirious anymore he noticed there were a ton of school-aged kids running around the village all day. He asked the adults why they weren't in school and they said they didn't have a school; they didn't have teachers. It was too expensive for them to hire teachers to come to their village because they were too far out. He couldn't believe what he was hearing: all these kids and no school; no learning. He decided after he was healthy enough he was going to raise funds and build a school there.

 After many years of working and trying, and starting the Pennies for Peace organization, he raised enough money to build a school. By this time Muslim extremism had become a common, known topic among Americans and this man's thoughts were that if the children in Pakistan could get a real education they would not turn to religious extremism. Education truly would open doors for them and give them all the options in the world. So, we decided that collecting and working for pennies and change was something that the kids could really do and something that they could encourage their friends and classmates to participate in.

We knew that 1 penny = 1 pencil and that 2 pennies = an eraser. 15 pennies can get a notebook and $20 can equip a student for 1 whole year of school! So, we started out on our mission. We made flyers, we talked to our principal, we talked to all the teachers at our school and they were all on board. We had 2 big jugs at the school where the kids could bring their donations too. We encouraged the kids to get creative and think about ways to find spare change or earn some money, not  to just ask their parents for some money for a fundraiser. Something else I liked about this program is that is got our kids thinking about kids clear on the other side of the world! And our efforts

now could create future leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan that had a real education and value for learning and life. What a difference that would make for all of us. In the end, we ended up collecting 48,312 pennies!!!! For those of you having a hard time converting that, we raised $483.12! We were thrilled and the kids had a wonderful time! Thank you to everyone who contributed and helped us!

I met someone famous.

Ha!! I knew I could get you to look if I used that for the title of my post! This post is only one picture of meeting someone famous and all the rest is some fun December stuff, but it got you here, right?

Anybody know a guy by the name of Alex Boye? Oh yes, I met him at Zupa's with a few of my college roommates. He was sitting in the booth behind us and I just couldn't help asking him for a picture. It's a good thing Brett wasn't there because he hates when I do stuff like that, but it seemed like Alex, I mean, Mr. Boye was flattered. My roommate, Natalie is all about pictures, so she was excited to ask for a picture, and she also asked for his autograph. He was very nice and didn't seem annoyed at all. We had a nice little chat and told him that we enjoyed seeing him sing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.



Here is the family decorating the tree. What a wonderful time of year. All the kids were SO excited to put up their own ornaments they've collected over they years. And of course, they all argued, and then bargained with each other, as to who would put up the star this year. It seems like it's a fight every year.

This year, Makenna won the debate and placed the star on the tree. 

Mom and Dad also enjoyed decorating the tree!!

Every year there is a standing bet for the boys in the family when watching the Utah vs. BYU game. The fans of which ever team loses, has to do a snow angel out on the lawn with no shirt! You may be asking yourself, "Who in the Bell family is even a U fan?" Well, he's  not officially from the Bell fam, is MY HUSBAND!!! I know, and I still married him. Anyway, the only brother there to watch the game at my grandpa's house (a great tradition) was Tyler, so he had to do it!!!!

So COLD!!!

The kids wanted in on the action, too!!! But quickly realized it was SUPER cold!

This year we decided to do a tradition with the Bell cousins. I did this same tradition as a little girl with my "Bell" cousins that was so fun and exciting each year. Every Christmas we would draw a name and make or buy an ornament for our cousin. By the time I left for college I had my own little box of ornaments to decorate a tree with and by the time we were married I had enough to cover our small little tree! I loved it as a child and growing up and we decided to do it with our kids. It was so fun. McKay had Caroline's name so he decided that he wanted to make a plaster mold of all the letters in her name and paint them for her ornaments. He spent so much time and effort on this and he was just thrilled with the outcome. He also bought her a princess crown ornament. Caroline also had McKay's name and bought him the perfect ornament: Mickey Mouse as the sorcerer's apprentice! (See our Halloween post). He was beyond thrilled!

Makenna got a cute Tinkerbell ornament from Wyatt. Very girly and sparkly-- just up her alley! She loved it.

I love Wyatt's face in this picture!!! It says loads about this cute little nephew of mine!!! Kenna had him and got him a Transformer ornament.

Love this little boy, too!!! Such a happy guy! Connor had him and chose a Yoda ornament.

Connor got a holographic Peanuts ornament from Jaxson and loves it.

Look at that face. What can I say? She is adorable!

What a great tradition! I think we'll do it every year!